An iPhone 5?

Rumours have been circulating for months about the impending release of Apple’s iPhone 5. Some thought it was to be announced shortly before Christmas 2010, others thought that Steve Jobs and the rest would hold off in order to milk sales of the iPhone 4, and instead announce the new handset in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote as they have done in years previous. However the 10th June came and went without an announcement of the ever-anticipated iPhone 5. So where does that leave the legions of enthusiasts salivating for the newest Apple toy?

Recently an anonymous source from Apple leaked information that the iPhone 5 could be available before the summer is out. This same source has said that the mobile will include an 8 megapixel camera and an imbedded SIM Card, much to the dismay of phone retailers around the UK. According to the report, it will also include a slick ARM Cortex-A9 processor, quite a big upgrade from the current processing chip in the iPhone 4.

Another source has indicated that as of 16th June, the next generation iPhone had entered the final testing phases and was currently being carried around by high level executives within the Apple compound. This bodes well for the September launch date that has generally been agreed upon by most of the iPhone rumour world.

But will this mobile be the iPhone 5 that has the Apple world ablaze? Many indications point to no. Numerous sources and leaked documents indicate that the next mobile to be released might simply be an in-between upgrade as a prelude to the iPhone 5, resembling the move from the iPhone 3 to the iPhone 3GS.

Numerous indications are hinting that the massive game changing upgrades that so many are hoping for might not be seen until Spring 2012. At least one document and one official have pointed to 2012 as the year that Apple will reshape the mobile industry… again. Does that mean that all of the information being leaked now is about that product? Or is there to be an intermediary handset to hold over those who can’t wait that long?

Apple has made no official announcements, outlined any specific timeline, or revealed anything at all about the bag of tricks they will eventually release on the smartphone market.

Keep on drooling, iPhone fans, this one could be a while.